Rocket launcher with a magazine



Feb. 24,1970 SIGRIST EIAL 3,49%3830 ROCKET LAUNCHER WITH A MAGAZINE Filed July 24, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 24, 1970 H. SIGRIST ETAL 3,496,830

ROCKET LAUNCHER WITH A MAGAZINE Filed July 24, 1968 a 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 24, 1970 H. SIGRIST ETAL 3,496,830

ROCKET LAUNCHER WITH A MAGAZINE Filed July 24. 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet s Feb. 24, 1970 s eRls -r ErAL 3,496,830

ROCKET LAUNCHER WITH A MAGAZINE Filed July 24, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 tates Unite 14 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A rocket launcher having a magazine in which the rockets are displaced, in a guide, out of a loading position transverse with respect to the launching position into a launching position by conveyor members. The magazine comprises alignment members along the guide which are directed towards the tail of the rockets. During the displacement, these alignment members are continuously in sliding connection with stop surfaces projecting from the tail towards the rear. The alignment members and the stop surfaces are constructed in such a manner that when the rockets are being driven into the launching position, a specific pin on the surface of the rocket enters a guide groove on the launching path or a fuse-setting device comes to lie in the correct position in front of the setting mechanism of the launching installation.

The invention relates to a rocket launcher with a magazine in which rockets are guided transversely with respect to their axes along a track by guide means, and which further comprises alignment members which act on stop surfaces provided at the tail of the rocket.

In a known rocket launcher of this kind, the alignment members are rigidly connected to a magazine portion constructed in the form of a rotating table and displacing the rockets. They are constructed in the form of dogs projecting from the table and each acting on the flanks of a recess in the tail edge of a rocket. The dogs remain in engagement on the circular track which the rockets follow on rotation of the table from a loading station to an extraction station, and serve the purpose of guiding a specific point on the surface of the rocket from its loading station to its launching station in such a manner that it comes into coincidence, in the latter, with a fixed reference point on the launching mechanism. This solution has the considerable disadvantage that the dogs participate in the movement of the table displacing the rockets along the track and consequently their co-operation with the recesses on the tail of the rocket is limited to the region of the path described by the dogs.

It is the object of the invention to improve the magazine of a rocket launcher of this known kind in such a manner that the co-operation between the alignment members and the stop surfaces on the rockets is independent of displacement means acting thereon. According to the invention, this problem is solved in that the alignment members include an elongated strip which is fixed to the magazine and extends along the track and which is in sliding contact with the stop surfaces.

The invention may appropriately be used in rocket launchers with magazines wherein the movement of the rocket is brought about by the co-operation between a plurality of displacement means. According to the further invention, the alignment members are constructed for this purpose in such a manner that their action on the stop surfaces remains effective during the transfer of the rockets from one displacement means to the other.

Examples of embodiment of the invention are described below with reference to the drawing in which:

Mont

FIGURE 1 shows a partial view of a first example of the magazine of a rocket launcher, seen in the direction of firing;

FIGURE 2 shows a section on the line 22 in FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 3 shows a section on the line 3-3 in FIG- URE 2;

FIGURE 4 shows a first example of an embodiment of a rocket in elevation from the rear;

FIGURE 5 shows a side view of the rocket shown in FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 shows a second example of a rocket in elevation from the rear;

FIGURE 7 shows a side view of the rocket shown in FIGURE 6;

FIGURE 8 shows a third example of a rocket in elevation from the rear;

FIGURE 9 shows a partial side view of the rocket shown in FIGURE 8 and a section through an alignment member;

FIGURE 10 shows a section on the line 1010 in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 11 shows a section on the line 1111 in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 12 shows a portion of the magazine shown in FIGURE 3 on a larger scale;

FIGURE 13 shows a front view of a portion of the magazine illustrated in FIGURE 1 in accordance with a further form of construction; and

FIGURE 14 shows a section on the line 1414 in FIGURE 13.

The magazine 20 shown in FIGURE 1 comprises a housing 21 on the rear wall 22 of which there is mounted a gear case 24 illustrated in broken lines in the drawing for the drive which is not described in detail but which can be actuated by a motor or by hand. In the rear wall 22 there is a loading aperture 25 which is cut out in the form of a circle corresponding to the outline of the rockets 63 to 68 with two recesses 26 and 27, its axis being designated by xx in FIGURE 3. In front of this, in the housing cover 23, there is provided a closable service aperture 28 which is not described in detail. On the diagonal of the rear wall 22 originating from the loading aperture 25 there can be seen the beginning of a loading tray 29 of the launching mechanism which is open towards the rear and connected to the magazine 20 longitudinally.

The rockets are guided laterally along a loop-shaped track 33 by guide surfaces 34, 35 forming guide members which are formed by excisions in a rear and a front transverse wall 31, 32 and are spaced in accordance with the diameter of the rockets. The guide surfaces 34, 35 extend in the form of semicircles with the same radii at the beginning 58 of the track 33 and into one another concentrically with the loading aperture 25. At the end of the track they follow tangentially on the semicircular loading tray 29. Mounted coaxially in front of this is a launching tube 30 extending above the magazine 20. Projecting above the guide surface 34 of the transverse wall 31, along the track 33, isa centre rib 37 bounded by a surface parallel to the guide surface 34. According to FIGURE 10, a forwardly directed stop surface 38 on this centre rib 37 is at right angles to the guide surface 34 and its rearwardly directed face is inclined in relation to the stop surface 38'. As shown in FIGURE 3, a short section of the rear transverse wall 31 which is symmetrical with respect to the axis xx is constructed in the form of a breech casing 39. As shown in FIGURE 11, a slide 40 is mounted for vertical displacement in the enclosed space. A downwardly directed portion thereof has the same cross-section as the centre rib 37 which only extends as far as the breech casing 39 and the forwardly directly face of which coincides with the stop surface 38. When the slide 40 is in the lower end position, two shoulders thereon, in the breech casing 39, are to the side of a slit 42 in the lower closing wall of the casing under the action of a spring 41. Until it disappears in the breech casing 39, the slide 40 can be displaced vertically upwards manually by means of a pull ring 43 connected to the slide 40, through the housing cover 23.

As shown in FIGURE 10, a guide rail 44 which is angular in cross-section with the free arm extending perpendicularly towards the rear transverse wall 31 and which forms the alignment member is connected to the rear wall 22. Its spacing c from the stop surface 38 on the centre rib 37 is constant. The guide rail 44 substantially follows the surface 36 equidistant from the guide surfaces 34, 35

and, as shown in FIGURES 2' and 3, extends from the" recess 26 in the loading aperture 25 as far as the last curve in the track 33 formed before the loading tray 29. An extension member 46 leading through this curve to the loading tray is rigidly connected to the rear wall 22 and set against the guide rail 44. The mutual spacing of its boundary surfaces 4'7, 48 perpendicular to the rear wall 22 increases away from the seating of the boundary surfaces on the guide rail 44 up to a multiple of the thickness of the guide rail 44. The boundary surfaces 47, 48 end in two planes which are parallel to the guide surfaces 34, 35 from which they are equidistant and are spaced apart by the distance a and end a little within the diameter of the rocket 70 lying in the loading tray 29 (FIG. 2). Whereas, on the thickening of the extension member 46, the boundary surface 47 approaches the guide surface 34 to a rapidly increasing extend up to the transition into the parallel plane, the boundary surface 48 behaves oppositely with respect to the guide surface 35 and only ends tangentially in the parallel plane with an opposite arc shortly before the end of the extension member 46. The boundary surfaces 47, 48 are equidistant from the surface 38 towards the end of the extension member 46 and the surface 36 is in turn symmetrical with respect to the guide surfaces 34, 35. A guide groove 56 is provided along a generatrix in the loading tray 29 and a helical groove 57 is provided in the extension thereof in the launching tube 30. Towards the rear, at the beginning of the guide groove 56, this ends bluntly and is here widened out symmetrically at a small angle to about two and a half times the width. The guide groove 56 is arranged in such a manner that the surface 36 extends through the centre of the groove.

Conveyor means are provided to advance the rockets along the track 33. These means comprise essentially two pairs of endless conveyor chains 50 and 51 which extend transversely to the launching direction and are equipped with driving claws 52, and three pairs of three-bladed starwheels 49, 53 and 54 in the region where these claws are deflected from one plane of movement into the other. A two-bladed conveyor roll 55, mounted parallel to the loading tray 29 at the last curve in the track 33 is provided as a further conveyor means. The pairs of starwheels 49, 53 and 54, the conveyor roll 55 and the two conveyor chains 50 and 51 are permanently connected to one another through a drive not illustrated. The drive may be connected, through a disengageable clutch, both to a motor and to a hand crank, as has already been described in the US. patent specification No. 3,186,303.

The first example of an embodiment illustrated in FIG- URES 4 and for a rocket 60 shows, at the rear end thereof, behind the thrust nozzle 73, a tail margin 74 which is rectangular in longitudinal section and concentric with the axis of the rocket and which projects axially beyond the end face 75 of the rocket and the outer face of which is flush with the surface of the rocket. Two recesses 76 and 77 of the same width a which are disposed symmetrically with respect to a diameter d of the rocket are provided in this tail margin 74. They are bounded by rounded stop surfaces 78, 79 and 80, 81 parallel to the axis. The axial depth of the recesses in the tail margin 74 is smaller than the length b of the free arm of the guide rail 44 (FIGURE 10). The distance a from the stop surface 78 to the stop surface 79 is greater but substantially equal to the above-mentioned spacing a of the boundary surfaces 47, 48 of the extension member 46 in FIGURE 12. It must be selected the greater the smaller the radius of curvature of the guide rail 44 and its extension member 46.

In the second example, illustrated in FIGURES 6 and 7, stop pins 82 to 85 are provided which project parallel to the axis from the end face 75 of the rocket 61. They are disposed symmetrically with respect to the diameter d so that there is the same distance a between the pins 82, 83 as between the pins 84, 85. Their length is equal to the depth of the recesses 76, 77 in the example shown in FIGURES 4 and 5.

In the two examples shown in FIGURES 4 and 6, the tail portion of the rockets comprises a holding groove 88, as shown in FIGURE 10, which is provided with a surface at right angles to the axis of the rocket and the spacing of which from the end face 75 is equal to the distance c between the stop face 38 on the centre rib 37 and the guide rail 44. This holding groove is also formed with a face opening conically towards the rear in accordance with the cross-section of the centre rib 37 so that the centre rib 37 can engage in the groove.

Furthermore, in the two embodiments shown in FIG- URES 4 and 6, two short rifling pins 89, 90, which are rigidly connected to the rocket body and project vertically above this, are provided on a diameter parallel to the diameter d which is at the distance e from the end face 75 for all rockets. Diameter and length of such a riding pin correspond to the width and depth of the guide groove 56 or of the helical groove 57, also to the height and the width of the recesses 26 and 27 in the loading aperture 25. The magazine described co-operates with a rocket as shown in FIGURES 4 to 7 in the following manner: in order to prepare the magazine 20 for loading, the position of the pair of starwheels 53 is first observed through the opening 28, Unless it assumes the position illustrated in FIGURE 2, it is brought into this positon by means of said hand crank. Two blades of each of the starwheels 53 now assume the position illustrated in FIG- URE 2. When a rocket is being loaded it should be orientated in such a manner that the rifling pins 89, pass through the recesses 26 and 27. The blades of the starwheels 53 bear laterally against the rocket as against the rocket 63 in FIGURE 2 and guide it in the direction of insertion parallel to the launching direction. As the rocket is pushed further in, the rifting pin 89 passes the end 45 of the guide rail 44. During the insertion, the agival front portion of the rocket deflects the slide 40 upwards against the pressure of the spring 41. When the loading position forming the initial position for the movement of the rocket along the track 33 is reached, the slide 40 snaps into the holding groove 88 and the end face 75 is then lying immediately in front of the front boundary face of the guide rail 44, If the rocket 63 remains unturned by the passage of the riflng pins 89, 90 through the apertures 26, 27, then in the loading position its stop faces 78 and 79 are at equal distances above and below the end 45 of the guide rail 44 and the casing of the rocket is at a distance from the end 45 of the guide rail 44 corresponding to the length of the rifling pin 89. If the rocket has been subjected to rotation, then the rocket 63 can be re-aligned in the prescribed position by hand through the service aperture 28.

In order to bring the conveyor means into operation, the drive for the starwheels and the conveyor chains is disconnected from the hand crank and connected to the motor by actuation of the clutch. After the motor has been switched on, the pair of star wheels 53 pushes the rocket 63 out of the loading position for lateral displacement between the guide surfaces 34, 35. The surfaces of the holding groove 88 slide along the slide 40 and from that along the centre rib 37. As a result, between the end face 75 and the guide rail 44 the rocket always has a constant axial clearance over the whole length of the track 33, which clearance is less than the depth of the recesses 76, 77 or than the length of the stop pins 82 to 85. After the first, short feed travel over the length of the rifling pin =89, the stop surfaces 78 and 79 remain one at each side of the guide rail 44 even in the event of possible rolling of the rocket 63 on the guide surface 35. The range through which the rocket can turn about its longitudinal axis is limited to about 20 over a straight section of the track 33. When the drive claws 52 receive the rocket 63 within range of movement of the pair of conveyor chains 50, as shown for the rocket 64, the pair of stop surfaces 78, 81 moves along one side of the guide rail 44 and the pair of stop surfaces 79, 80 along the other side thereof in consequence. The loading aperture 25 is free so that the next rocket and then the following ones can be brought into the loading position. During the further running of the conveyor means, the rockets 63 to 70 therefore follow one another over the track 33 at short intervals, separated from one another by the drive claws 52 and held with their axes parallel, from the loading aperture 25 to the loading tray 29.

The pair of conveyor chains 50 displaces the rockets which are brought through the first loop formed by the track 33 by the pair of starwheels 49, such as the rocket 65, until the pair of starwheels 54 acts thereon, This pair of starwheels brings it through the second loop, like the rocket 66, up to the pair of conveyor chains 51 which displaces it further, like the rocket 67, within range of the conveyor roll 55. On each half revolution, this grasps a rocket and pushes it, like the rocket 68, through the last curve of the track 33 until it comes to lie in the loading tray 29 like the rocket 70, in the launching position. Whereas during the possible rotary movements of the rockets over the straight portions of the track 33, only two of the stop surfaces 78 and 81 can strike simultaneously against the guide rail 44, at the position of said curvature, where the thickening of the extension member 46 assumes the value a, three stop surfaces 78, 79 and 89 come simultaneously into sliding connection with the guide rail 44 as shown in FIGURE 12. In this position of the rocket 68, the stop surface 78 is at the boundary surface 47, and the stop surfaces 79, 80 are at the boundary surface 48. The diametral plane d of the rocket coincides with the plane of symmetry 36. On further movement of the rocket 68, the stop surfaces 78 and 79 leave the extension member 46. In the course of this, the stop surface 81 approaches the convex boundary surface 47 whereas the stop surface 80 approaches the concave boundary surface 48. The rocket 68 approaches the loading tray 29 until the stop surface 80 impinges on the end portion of the boundary surface 48 directed parallel to the rectilinear portion of the boundary surface 47. In this position, the diametral plane d of the rocket 68 coincides with the plane of symmetry 36. At the termination of the positively guided rotary movement of the rocket 68, the rifiing pin 89 is thus set to the guide groove 56. Possible deviations from this direction as a result of the guiding play are taken into consideration by the taper of the groove 56. The rifling pin 89 engages reliably in this when the rocket comes to lie in the loading tray 29 like the rock 70.

A further example of the alignment members and the stop surfaces is illustrated in the drawing in FIGURES 8 and 9. A U-rail 86 which is open towards the rear transverse wall 31 and rigidly connected to the rear wall 22 is disposed along the track 33 (FIGURE 2). The stop surfaces on the rocket 62 are determined by a guide pin 87 which is rigidly connected thereto and projects to the rear in the axial direction, being disposed eccentrically in the diametral plane d of the rifing pin 89 and which fits into the U-rail 86 with a sliding fit. The mode of operation is immediately obvious from the description given with reference to FIGURES 1 to 3.

In the embodiment shown in FIGURES 13 and 14, a rod 92, which is mounted in a carrier 93 secured to the housing cover 23 and is displaceable in the rear wall 22 parallel to the axis of the loading aperture 25 and which is taken through the transverse wall 3 1, projects from the magazine 20. A stop 94 is rigidly connected to the rod 92 between the carrier 93 and the transverse wall 31. An arm 95 which is pivotally mounted at the rear end of the rod 92 is connected to a cup-shaped rammer 96, the bottom 91 of which faces forwards. Its external diameter is equal to the diameter of the loading aperture 25. Connected to the bottom 91 of the rammer is a ledge 97 which projects forwards beyond the bottom 91 and which has a greater length than the diameter of the bottom so that it projects laterally beyond the latter as can be seen from FIGURE 13. Its cross-sectional shape coincides with that of the free arm of the guide rail 44 as shown in FIGURES 2 and 3. A hoop-shaped handle 98 is secured to the rim of the cup of the rammer 96 being situated towards the rear in the plane of the ledge 97. The ledge 97 is horizontal when the rammer 96 is in a position coaxial with the loading aperture 25. The recesses 26, 27 have an extend in the vertical direction which coincides substantially with the spacing a of the surfaces 78, 79 of the rocket shown in FIGURE 4.

The magazine shown in FIGURES l3 and 14 is operated as follows: in order to prepare the magazine 20 for loading, the rammer 96 is pulled towards the rear by the hoop 98 until the stop 94 bears against the transverse wall 31 and is turned in clockwise direction into a position of readiness shown in chain line in FIGURE 13. The front end of a rocket constructed in accordance with the example shown in FIGURES 4 and 6 is laid on the surface 99 of the gearbox 24 and, after the rifling pins 89, have been brought substantially into the horizontal position, is slid into the loading aperture 25 until the rear end is close to the rear wall 22. As described with reference to the example shown in FIGURES 1 to 3, the slide 40 is pushed upwards during the forward movement of the rocket. Thereupon the rammer 96 is pivoted in counterclockwise direction about the rod 92 into the ramming position in FIGURE 13 in which it bears against the surface 99. The rammer 96 is now pushed forwards by hand, in the course of which the ledge 97 acts on the rocket 71 between the stop surfaces 7 8, 79* and 80, 81 and moves forwards in the horizontal plane of the guide rail 44. In the course of this, the ends of the ledge 97 projecting radially beyond the rammer 96 pass through the recesses 26, 27. When the rocket has reached the loading position, the slide 40 snaps into the holding groove 88 and the stop 94 strikes against the carrier 93. The loading aperture 25 is closed by the rammer 96. The ledge 97 is flush with the end 45 of the guide rail 44 and at the same distance from this as the stop surface 38. The operator can now cause the forward movement of the conveyor means directly through the motor because the rocket is held by the rammer in the correct position for its advance. When the pair of starwheels 53 begins to rotate, the stop surfaces 78-81 of the rocket 71 slide out of the loading position. In the course of this, they pass out of range of the ledge 97 within range of the guide rail 44.

We claim:

-1. A rocket launcher having a magazine for rockets, each of said rockets comprising a tail having an end face 75 extending in a plane transverse to the longitudinal axis of the rocket, stop surfaces 78, 79, 80, 81 on said end face, guide members 89, 90 on the circumference of said tail, said magazine comprising a track over which said rockets are displaceable 34, 35 transversely to their axis, said track 34, 35 being loop shaped in the plane of said end face 75, a guide path 25, 99 for inserting said rockets in said magazine along which each rocket is displaceable in axial direction, said guide path having recesses 26, 27 through which said guide members 89', 90 pass on axial displacement of each rocket over said guide path 25, 99, guide means 34', 35 for guiding said rockets along said loop shaped guide track 34, 35 and alignment members 45 comprising a rail 44 secured to said magazine extending along said track 34, 35 whereby said stop surfaces 78, 79, 80, 81 are brought in alignment relative to said rail 44 by said guide members 89, 90 of said tail and by said recesses 26, 27 in said guide path 25, 99, said stop surfaces 78, 79, 80, 81 sliding with clearance along said rail 44 during displacement of said rockets, a loading tray 29 at the end of said track 34, 35, and said rail 44 having an end portion which on displacement of a rocket into said loading tray comes successively into engagement without clearance with said stop surfaces 78, 79, 80, 81.

2. A rocket launcher as claimed in claim 1 wherein said rail has a longitudinal groove and a pin in engagement with said groove projecting in the axial direction beyond the tail surface of a rocket, the generatrices of said pin forming said stop surfaces.

3. A rocket launcher as claimed in claim 1 wherein stops are provided on said magazine which act on said rockets and limit their axial displaceability in said magazine.

4. A rocket launcher as claimed in claim 3 for rockets having a shell and guide members thereon wherein said magazine has recesses in said guide path through which said guide members pass on axial displacement of the rocket over said guide path.

5. A rocket launcher as claimed in claim 1 wherein two stop surfaces are disposed at the margin of said tail between which said rail engages with clearance.

6. A rocket launcher as claimed in claim 1 for rockets having a tail surface wherein two pairs of stop surfaces are provided between which said rail engages with clearance, the stop surfaces of each of said pairs being disposed at the margin of said tail surface.

7. A rocket launcher as claimed in claim 6 wherein a plane passes through the axis of each rocket and said two pairs of stop surfaces are disposed symmetrically with respect to said plane.

8. A rocket launcher as claimed in claim 1 for rockets having a tail surface wherein a pin projects above said tail surface in the axial direction and said rail has a longitudinal groove in which said pin engages.

9. A rocket launcher as claimed in claim 6 wherein two ribs project in the axial direction beyond said tail surface, said ribs being diametrically opposite one another and having ends extending in the axial direction to form stop surfaces.

10. A rocket launcher as claimed in claim 6 wherein four pins project in the axial direction beyond said tail surface, the generatrices of said pins forming stop surfaces.

11. A rocket launcher as claimed in claim 6 wherein said loading tray and an end portion of said rail on displacement of a rocket into said loading tray, comes successively into engagement, substantially without clearance, with two stop surfaces of each of said two pairs.

12. A rocket launcher as claimed in claim. 11 for rockets having a shell and a guide member on said shell wherein said loading tray has a longitudinal groove and said guide member is brought into engagement with said longitudinal groove by the end portion of said rail on displacement of a rocket into said loading tray.

13. A rocket launcher as claimed in claim 1 wherein an initial portion of said rail and an additional alignment member is provided which is displaceable in the direction of the axes of the rockets into a working position in which it is adjacent to said initial portion of said rail in the longitudinal direction thereof.

14. A rocket launcher as claimed in claim 13 wherein said magazine has a loading aperture through which said additional alignment member can be displaced out of working position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,426,517 8/1947 McWhorter 8933 X 2,890,625 6/1959 Simpson 8933.l 3,186,303 6/1965 Linke et al. 89l.803

SAMUEL W. ENGLE, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 8933, 1.803 

